Management Best Practices
The Secret of Becoming A Leader
Learn the special strategy
that leaders use to become exceptional, plus the three
key areas where you show your character to others
By Brian Tracy
Leaders are made, not born.
They create and develop themselves by becoming men and
women of fine character and integrity.
Earl Nightingale once wrote, “If honesty did not exist,
it would have to be invented, as it is the surest way of
getting rich.” A study at Harvard University concluded
that the most valuable asset that a company has is how
it is known to its customers¾its reputation, especially
for honesty and quality.
By the same token, your greatest personal asset is the
way that you are known to others. It is your personal
reputation for keeping your word and fulfilling your
commitments. Your integrity precedes you and affects all
of your interactions with other people.
A key to developing integrity and character in yourself
is to study men and women of great character. Study the
lives and stories of people like George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Florence
Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony and Margaret Thatcher.
Study the people whose strength of character enabled
them to change their world. As you read, think about how
they would behave if they were facing the difficulties
that you face.
You can do the same thing they would do. Select someone
that you very much admire for his or her qualities of
courage, tenacity, honesty, or wisdom. Ask yourself,
“What would Jesus do in my situation?” or, “What would
Lincoln do if he were here at this time?” You will find
yourself receiving guidance that enables you to be the
very best person that you can possible be.
Acting with integrity
There are three areas of
your life where acting with integrity is crucial. These
are the three areas of greatest temptation for forsaking
your integrity, as well as the areas of greatest
opportunity for building your integrity.
The first area of integrity has to do with your
relationships with your family and your friends, the
people close to you. Being true to yourself means living
in truth with each person in your life. It means
refusing to say or do something that you don’t believe
is right. Living in truth with other people means that
you refuse to stay in any situation where you are
unhappy with the behavior of another person. You refuse
to tolerate it. You refuse to compromise.
The second area of integrity has to do with your
attitude and behavior toward money. Casualness toward
money brings casualties in your financial life. You must
be fastidious about your treatment of money, especially
other people’s money. You must guard your credit rating
the same way you would guard your honor. You must pay
your bills punctually, or even early. You must keep your
promises with regard to your financial commitments.
The third area of integrity has to do with your
commitments to others, especially in your business, your
work and your sales activities. Always keep your word.
Be a man or a woman of honor. If you say that you will
do something, do it. If you make a promise, keep it. If
you make a commitment, fulfill it. Be known as the kind
of person that can be trusted absolutely, no matter what
the circumstances.
Your integrity is manifested in your willingness to
adhere to the values you hold most dear. It’s easy to
make promises and hard to keep them, but if you do,
every single act of integrity will make your character a
little stronger. And as you improve the quality and
strength of your character, every other part of your
life will improve as well.
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put
these ideas into action.
First, identify men and
women of great character whom you admire, and read their
life stories. Think of how you could apply the lessons
they learned to your own life.
Second, analyze your key relationships regularly and
resolve to live in truth with the most important people
in your life.
Third, keep your word. Keep your promises and
commitments. Always do what you say you will do and
guard your integrity as a sacred thing.
Brian is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy
International, and President of Brian Tracy University,
a private on-line University for Sales and
Entrepreneurship. He can be reached at
www.briantracy.com,
www.briantracyu.com or 858-481-2977.
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